


Justified End

by Dawn_Blossom



Series: Chrobinweek2018 but it's all Chrom/Grima [4]
Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Chrom joined Grima voluntarily, M/M, bad end but not the canon bad end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-17
Updated: 2018-10-17
Packaged: 2019-08-03 17:29:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16330448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dawn_Blossom/pseuds/Dawn_Blossom
Summary: Chrobin Week 2018: Day 4 - Prompt: OutrealmsThe ends justify the means. Who justifies the ends?





	Justified End

**Author's Note:**

> Listen... I know I've said before that I need Chrom and Grima to be happy like I need oxygen... but I know how to hold my breath.
> 
> So yeah, you get one (1) angsty fic. I may not normally do it, but hey, this is an "outrealm" after all ^^

They say that the Exalt of Ylisse destroyed the world. That he betrayed his country, his bloodline, and his goddess while welcoming the Fell Dragon into the world with open arms.

“They” being those people who have avoided death at the hands of the Fell Dragon and his agents. Their number dwindles every day. Chrom suspects that there will be no history for him to go down in at this rate.

And he would know. After all, he is the one carrying out most of the killings. Either with his own blade, or with a command to the Risen (who obey him every bit as much as they obey their master—proof, perhaps, that Chrom is truly trusted).

Chrom cannot denied that he has failed in his duty. But his failure was not in joining Grima. It was long ago, when his army fell to Walhart’s and was slaughtered en mass. Perhaps it was before that, even. Perhaps it was when his inattention, recklessness, and youthful idiocy got Emmeryn slaughtered in her own castle. _She_ could have brought peace to humanity, could have done what Chrom could not.

Perhaps things could have been different. If only a power-hungry despot’s cruel whims hadn’t destroyed his sister before her time… If only a tyrannical conqueror’s bloodlust hadn’t crushed every life in its path… Chrom would do anything to live in a better, happier world.

But that just isn’t the way his own works.

“Chrom, I hope you didn’t want anything from the village up ahead,” Robin says, drawing Chrom out of his thoughts. “Because the humans have decided to burn it down themselves, it seems.”

Robin’s face is not as gentle as it once was. His eyes, an unnatural shade of red, oscillate between blazing fury and cold nothingness depending on the day. His muscles are constantly tight with tension. He emits an aura of misery and despair, and Chrom cannot seem to ease his pain no matter what he tries. It kills him, because Robin is everything to him.

“Better it not exist than it be used for our benefit, they think,” Chrom says. He steps closer to Robin Even if he cannot free Robin of his suffering, he will never stop trying.

“It’s sickening,” Robin says, pressing a hand into Chrom’s shoulder. “They didn’t just abandon their dwellings. They abandoned half their population. Not everyone wanted to go. The ones who left set the fire anyway.”

“Betrayal in their final moments…” Chrom mutters. “It’s unforgivable.”

Too much of human history has been unforgivable. Humanity’s cruelty is too constant to be accidental, too devastating to be ignored, and too ubiquitous to be acceptable. The only way to end this miserable state is to end, well, humanity itself. Or at least enough of it to degrade society, for individuals are not nearly so terrible without society aggregating their flaws.

At least, that’s what Robin says. And Robin has never been incorrect. He is far more skilled in logic and reason than Chrom will ever be. Moreover, Chrom can see the truth in them. His heart aches and his blood boils whenever he thinks about the acts Gangrel and Walhart committed. And they are not atypical examples of leaders. Chrom’s own father thought killing an entire people solely on the basis of their religion was acceptable.

Truth be told, Chrom is happy that the Fell Dragon is here. He is happy that Robin is Grima reincarnated, and that he has the power to do the only thing that will even out the world’s inequalities.

And yet…

“We would have killed those people ourselves, of course…” he says.

“... Of course,” Robin echoes. His grip on Chrom grows weaker.

When Chrom thinks too hard about their actions, he cannot keep himself from questioning them. It used to be so easy to kill. Gangrel was a deceitful trickster. Walhart was a cold-blooded warmonger. They deserved their own deaths; their followers made the choice to die in their service. Chrom never questioned anything. But now, nothing is simple. Perhaps they are only doing what they have to do to reach their ends, and perhaps the ends justify the means.

But are their ends truly so worthy? 

Robin would give him the answer. And so he asks.

“Chrom…” Robin steps back. His expression is blank. “Have you forgotten what they’ve done to us? Humanity deserves worse than what we’re doing to it. Humanity has inflicted far worse…”

Of course. Robin always puts his mind at ease. This is only justice, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. The two of them didn’t start the chain of causation. They are only writing the ending to a horror story plotted out long ago.

“You’re right…” Chrom says aloud, the acknowledgment freeing him from the last of his worries.

“I know.” Robin smirks, but the confidence in his expression doesn’t quite meet his eyes. “I know, because you are still with me.”

Right… They would never have walked down this path together if it weren’t the best one available to them. Chrom is still here, Robin is still here, and so they must be right.

“I’ll be with you to the very end,” Chrom promises.

Which may be sooner rather than later… But he barely dares to think it, and he certainly does not voice the thought aloud.

Robin does not speak a word in response, merely pressing a forceful kiss against Chrom’s lips instead. It could mean many different things, but Chrom cannot find any strength within him to question it.

So he closes his eyes, embraces his love, and tells himself that everything is alright.


End file.
